The Mid-Term Grades

[Motor City Sonics]

Here we are - Stuck In The Middle - My Tiger first-half grades


Starting Pitchers

Rick Porcello C+ I could grade him lower, but being a ground ball pitcher with such a terrible defensive team is not his fault, really.

Max Scherzer C+ It seems to be all or nothing. I'd rather see consistency and efficiency than 12 strikeouts a game. Nothing personal - I wish him the best with all he's going through

Doug Fister C+ He's been ineffective recently, but I think he is still having mobility issues. I don't blame the 1 win on him - he hasn't been getting run support (without looking up stats, its kind of how it feels).

Drew Smyly B- I graded him higher than most because of expectations. I think he's going to be a solid major-league 4 or 5 throughout his career. He needs to develop more stamina. Another victim of shoddy defense.

Justin Verlander A He's Justin Verlander - to grade him lower is to show how spoiled we have become

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Bullpen

Duane Below B- He's not as good as his stats indicate because they tend to put him in a lot of non-pressure situations, but he rarely ever hurts them when he pitches.

Joaquin Benoit B He's right about where we expected him to be.

Phil Coke C He's an average bullpen lefty, at best, but he mostly does his job.

Octavio Dotel C He shows glimpses of brilliance but then proves why he's a journeyman. To be he's very "vanilla".

Jose Valverde D He hasn't had the luck of last year.

Brayan Villareal A He figured it out and he's auditioning to be the next closer and maybe he should get a few chances before this season is over.

Rest Of The Staff D A bunch of bodies to fill the roster mostly. Crosby and Wilk were not surprisingly lit up by major league hitters

Grading the pitching staff is tricky because you have to be leery of the stats. With the Tigers awful defense I would guess the ERAs of most of these pitchers could be at least a half a run higher than it should be.

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Catchers

Alex Avila C Last year was a bit of a fluke - not saying he is bad, he is still one of the overall better catchers in the AL, but he is not having a of of hits drop this year and the beating he took last year is showing this year. Maybe it sounds crazy, but the Tigers may have to start thinking about having him play another position in the future - if they like his bat and want him around long term.

Gerald Laird A When they signed him this winter some people griped about it, but he's a great backup - and I think his acceptance of that role lets him relax and play better. He never should have been a starter.

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Infielders

Miguel Cabrera B+ He's a great player, but he can't do it alone. Still not a great defensive third baseman, but not as bad as we thought he would be

Prince Fielder C Am I being too harsh? He is maybe the worst defensive first baseman I have ever seen in a Tiger uniform and that bad defense has costs them dearly too many times - and he hasn't been enough of an asset offensively to make up for it. He should not be an All-Star.

Jhonny Peralta C Like Avila, last year was a bit of a fluke. He's a solid player and he's having the kind of year that you'd expect. Hasn't made a lot of errors, but a couple have been very costly.

Ryan Raburn F I mean, come on.....what gives? Why is he still starting? Why is he still even on this team? I blame management as much as him.

Ramon Santigao C Such a terrible start. Once he got rolling he was pretty much what we expected him to be. Doesn't make many errors, but I don't think he has a ton of range either.

Danny Worth C Hard to grade him - he never gets any consistent chances to play. I would have like to have seen the Tigers play him every day for 2 or 3 weeks to see what he could do. All I would want from a 2b offensively is about a .260 avg.

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Outfielders

Quintin Berry B+ Quite a spark when he came up, but he's coming down to earth at a pretty solid speed. He needs to stay with the team as a 4th or 5th outfielder over Don Kelly or Ryan Raburn.

Brennan Boesch D+ He had a GREAT opportunity to prove himself hitting behind a red-hot AJ and in front of the big boys. He's been a disappointment in all aspects of his game.

Andy Dirks A- Made the most of his opportunities and was looking like an everyday player. Please come back, Andy!

Austin Jackson A+ He has been the Tigers MVP this year (sorry, Miggy). He should have been an All-Star - but maybe a week off and a chip on his shoulder is a good thing.

Don Kelly D Skip loves him and maybe I am being too harsh - He's a 25th man.

Delmon Young D+ For a No. 1 pick he should be better than this.

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Management

Dave Dombrowski Inc - I can't grade him until September 1st. He was getting a D last year until Delmon Young and Doug Fister may have saved his job.

Jim Leyland D+ Keep starting Ryan Raburn, Jim. Manage yourself out of a job.

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*

The Detroit Tigers D+

I am not basing this on averaging the individual players out based on their individual grades. This is based on how they play as a team, and they have been pathetic. The defense is terrible, they leave too many men on base and at times they just seem to be listless. When the first 3 out of 4 hitters are Good Austin Jackson, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, the team should be a lot better than this. They just don't look like a team that will flip the switch and starting winning. They look more like a fourth place team than a division winner. I can't see them finishing higher than third right now - even in such a weak division. Maybe they pull off a trade that sparks something, but if they are unwilling to part with Castellanos, Turner and Garcia - then I can't seem them getting much at the deadline. I don't know that a Jed Lowrie, Placido Polanco or Matt Garza will turn this thing around.

[Yoda]

Berry coming down to earth at a pretty solid speed? He's been hitting just fine as of late. No idea what this means. He has over an .800 OPS his last 10 games.

[pyrotigers]

Alright I'll give this a shot:

C: Alex Avila - B, he's managed to be an above league average hitter at catcher while dealing with a bunch of injuries, let's not get too spoiled
Gerald Laird - A, A backup catcher with a 104 OPS+, sure
1B: Prince Fielder - B, it's hard to give a guy a B when they have a 134 OPS+, but the power needs to improve
2B: Ramon Santiago - D, bad on offense and defense, but he is who he is
3B: Miguel Cabrera - B+, similar boat as Fielder, he's been good, but not as good as he's capable of
SS: Jhonny Peralta - B-, defense has slipped but his offense is still solid for a SS
LF: Quintin Berry - A, I certainly don't think it's sustainable but a 115 OPS+ and 12 steals for a complete nobody has to be worth a high grade.
CF: Austin Jackson - A, he's been awesome all year
RF: Brennan Boesch - F-, Terrible defense had a .274 OBP, get this guy off the team please
DH: Delmon Young - D-, He's a little better than Boesch. Yaaaay

Bench: Andy Dirks - A, too bad he got hurt
Ryan Raburn - F, I like the guy but he's stunk
Don Kelly - F, terrible
Danny Worth - F, terrible

no one else really played enough for me to judge

SP: Justin Verlander - A-, This is a harsh grade but he's not QUITE as good as he's capable of, so no A
Max Scherzer - C+, This was a really tough one, his peripherals are awesome but he has to take some blame for his few awful starts
Rick Porcello - C+, Finally getting that K-Rate up, keep it up Rick
Drew Smyly - B-, Rough lately but his overall numbers (peripherals especially) are awfully good for a rookie.
Doug Fister - C, Still solid in a lot of ways, but the velocity loss lately is very concerning. Hope he's healthy.

Bullpen: Jose Valverde - D, he's gotten the job done lately but boy he sucks this year
Joaquin Benoit - B+, too many walks, dominant otherwise
Phil Coke - B+, much better than I'd expected
Brayan Villareal - A, Walks a few too many but a million times better than I'd hoped
Octavio Dotel - A, he's been awesome
Duane Below - B+, I don't think his stuff is good enough for real long term success, but I won't complain about a guy with a 1 BB/9

I don't think anyone else has pitched enough for me to judge.

So I guess based on this my issue with the team is the starting pitching underperforming ERA wise (probably in large part due to defense) and a few total blackholes in the lineup.

[jackson_cannery]

If they make the playoffs: A
If they miss the playoffs: F

This course is pass/fail.

[ToledoTigerFan]

I'll give one grade....... D-plus. If the expectations were a .500 season, I'd give them a B. Since the expectations were for far more than mediocrity, a barely-passing grade is all they deserve.

[Nastradamus]

I'd go a solid B on Porcello. Without that Texas start where he let up 8 over 1 inning, he's got a 3.62 ERA,1.38 WHIP with 9 quality starts. I know you have to include all his numbers, but a loss is a loss and his numbers don't really tell the story of how effective he's been in his other 15 starts.

Similar story for Valverde, who has let up 3 earned runs in a month and a half.

[nd1377]

Some of the above grades are being kind to some Tigers by giving them better than F-. Some have just been flat out pathetic (I am being kind) for the first half of the season.

[Dawgs]

Boesch has to be a F. Hes the worst player in baseball.

If Delmon hit 8th he would deserve a D but being slotted 5th all year he gets an F for failing at his role.

Raburns an easy F.

Peralta is a D. His hitting is below career averages and his range is nonexistant but whats pushed him below a C is the errors he didnt make last year but does this season.

Avila is a C-. Hes just not as good as last year led us to believe and calling his defense adequate is being kind. He should be a stop gap until Brantly is ready.

Cabrera and Fielder are B's but barely. Two guys that should be near 1.000 OPS are both nearer to .850. Good but not good enough.

Jackson gets an A+. Hes reinvented himself with power and plate discipline. His two strike approach has been off the charts this year. Hes battled thru abs.

Berry gets a B+ for giving us more than anyone could have reasonably expected.

Fister is a D or D-. Hes been terrible almost every time out.

Consistency keeps Max and Porcello from achieving Bs.

Verlander is a B+. Consistency has been an issue for him as well. I know hes probably the midseason Cy Young or at worst runner up but for him this is just an average type season and nobody in the AL is tearing it up.

The Bullpen gets a solid B. Valverde has been pitching better but his early season struggles drag the unit down.

Leyland gets an F for the simple reason he trots Delmon out in the 5 hole day after day without trying anything different.

DD gets expelled from school for putting together this little league defense and failing to get a league average second basemen every year since Polanco left.

Illitch gets a D for tying DDs hands on improving 2nd base and the outfield then paying Prince 219 million.

Im sure you guys will all disagree with me. Flame away.

[keyser343]

Boesch has to be a F. Hes the worst player in baseball.

If Delmon hit 8th he would deserve a D but being slotted 5th all year he gets an F for failing at his role.

Raburns an easy F.

Peralta is a D. His hitting is below career averages and his range is nonexistant but whats pushed him below a C is the errors he didnt make last year but does this season.

Avila is a C-. Hes just not as good as last year led us to believe and calling his defense adequate is being kind. He should be a stop gap until Brantly is ready.

Cabrera and Fielder are B's but barely. Two guys that should be near 1.000 OPS are both nearer to .850. Good but not good enough.

Jackson gets an A+. Hes reinvented himself with power and plate discipline. His two strike approach has been off the charts this year. Hes battled thru abs.

Berry gets a B+ for giving us more than anyone could have reasonably expected.

Fister is a D or D-. Hes been terrible almost every time out.

Consistency keeps Max and Porcello from achieving Bs.

Verlander is a B+. Consistency has been an issue for him as well. I know hes probably the midseason Cy Young or at worst runner up but for him this is just an average type season and nobody in the AL is tearing it up.

The Bullpen gets a solid B. Valverde has been pitching better but his early season struggles drag the unit down.

Leyland gets an F for the simple reason he trots Delmon out in the 5 hole day after day without trying anything different.

DD gets expelled from school for putting together this little league defense and failing to get a league average second basemen every year since Polanco left.

Illitch gets a D for tying DDs hands on improving 2nd base and the outfield then paying Prince 219 million.

Im sure you guys will all disagree with me. Flame away.

This is a horrible assesment. First, Cabrera barley getting a B? His OPS is closer to 1.000 then .850! Verlander is not concsistant? Yeah, fogot that he wasn't bad in April like in every other season. I could quibble with some of your other comments, but these were two huge misses.

[TigerNation]

The Dawgs grades are absolutely horrible.

[Nastradamus]

Ya Dawgs, I'm not sure where you are coming from at all. Cabby is OPSing 949 and Fielder is at 860 while being a career 924 guy. I'd like a few more HRs, but I think expecting a yearly 1000 OPS is unrealistic. You are way too hard on Avila and Peralta. Peralta is behind his averages, but not by a ton and Avila is down from last year, but not the way you make it sound. A stopgap? Get outta here man. Also on Peralta, he has 7 errors in 72 games. He had 10 in 142 last year. He's barely off pace. Let's not get too extreme here.

[sagnam]

Any grading that doesn't give Berry an A is broken. He's over-performing in every way possible.